Analysis of heart, lung and vascular disorders by means of noninvasive auscultation has long been a very useful tool for medical diagnosis of ailments. By using a stethoscope, a physician would listen to the heart sounds, chest sounds or other body sounds to identify sounds associated with abnormalities. The most common of these are heart murmurs which when identified indicate specific abnormalities in the functioning of the heart. However, identifying specific murmurs, like identifying heart sounds, is difficult. Developing the skill to make a proper analysis takes years of study and practice. Acquiring expertise in identifying heart sounds and murmurs takes experience that many physicians do not have the opportunity to acquire, since many heart murmurs are very rare and are seldom encountered by general practitioners.
With the advent of the modern electronic stethoscope, a visual indication of heart sounds or chest sounds can be made-which aids in diagnosis. Electronic stethoscopes allow the physician to discern subtle differences in the frequency, intensity and duration of many sounds. However, it is still incumbent on the physician to correctly analyze the recorded and displayed sounds and diagnose the underlying abnormalities therefrom.
Due to the rarity of many heart murmurs and other body sounds, recognition and correct diagnosis of such sounds from displays or from listening directly to the body sounds is difficult or impossible for the inexperienced physician. Hence, there is a need in the medical arts for automatic recognition and diagnosis of abnormalities detected from body sounds. In particular, cardiovascular abnormalities need to be detected through auscultation methods and diagnosed automatically.